Beyond the Search for Competition in Social Service Contracting: Procurement, Consolidation, and Accountability

The authors argue it is time to move beyond thinking of competition in social service contracting simply in terms of whether competitive tendering procedures are used. Although the procurement process is important, other factors should be examined as well. In particular, they look at how market consolidation and accountability are related to competitive procurement. Findings indicate that demand side—driven consolidation (i.e., governments purposely choosing to go with fewer and larger contracts in which lead agencies manage vendor networks) has both competitive and noncompetitive aspects that are in need of further study and that the competition—accountability link is more complex than generally assumed. Although, as expected, there is evidence that competition, in and of itself, leads to some contractor turnover, it does not appear that competitive vendors are held to higher standards than their noncompetitive counterparts regarding performance (as measured by adherence to contract terms).Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Competing for What?: Linking Competition to Performance in Social Service Contracting

This article explores the links between competition and contractor performance often assumed by market theory. Using data from Florida social service contracting, the authors test to see if competitively procured vendors outperform their noncompetitive peers regarding adherence to contract terms. It is found that, contrary to market theory, this is not the case. It is also found that district management capacity is positively related to performance and the performance of nonprofit vendors is indistinguishable from for-profits (whereas both appear to be outperformed by other government contractors). Finally, this study finds little evidence that performance or competition is related to the likelihood of maintaining contracts.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

How Competitive Is “Competitive” Procurement in the Social Services?

The scholarship on contracting generally argues that markets for social services are weak and lacking in competition. Using data gathered from Florida’s largest social service agency, the Department of Children and Families, this article adds to the discussion by constructing a more rigorous measure of competition that accounts for the quality of bidding entities. The findings indicate that while the measures used in earlier studies align reasonably well with the raw number of initial responders to competitive solicitations, they tend to overestimate competition when the quality component is included in the analysis. That is, social service markets may be even weaker than previously reported. Furthermore, an examination of the relationship between competition and performance fails to find a significant association.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline